By Samuel Newman, Matthew Kelsey, Daniel Denny and Brittany Schmeltz (October 11, 2017, 12:55 PM EDT) -- Generally, courts will not enforce contractual restrictions between a borrower and a lender that deprive the borrower of the right to commence a voluntary bankruptcy case without the lender's consent, holding such provisions to be void as contrary to federal public policy.[1] Despite this line of cases, there remains no definitive test that prevents a lender from limiting the right of a borrower to commence a bankruptcy. Accordingly, lenders and investors continue to experiment with creative structures to prevent a borrower's bankruptcy filing. Two recent bankruptcy court decisions provide additional guidance on valid safeguards against the risk of borrowers filing for bankruptcy protection. As discussed below, these decisions clarify previous case law, develop the prevailing rules and highlight outstanding open issues....